Bitter farewell for Alex Schwazer, after his long and disputed disqualification, this evening in Arco, Trentino he returned to march, but he had to stop after two thirds of the race, at the 14th kilometer, due to sciatica that has been haunting him for a few weeks. “I wanted to compete today at all costs, to show my children what their dad did. In fact, they have never seen me in a race”, says Alex with a face marked by pain.
The event, called QAlex20k, also represents the probable farewell to racing for the 39-year-old. At the start with him, under a threatening rain sky, at 7:30 p.m., was a single competitor, Damiano Barberi, a master from Veneto, still without Fidal results in the 20 kilometers. In the stands, numerous fans and onlookers applauded the South Tyrolean at every passage under the stands.
At first, the only opponent on the 50-lap race was the wind. “It bothers him a lot, it makes him lose two minutes,” explains Sandro Donati. A coach, but also a bit of a father, he communicates the passage times to the walker. “He started with a lot of anger and enthusiasm, I asked him to save himself,” says the 77-year-old, unable to hide a certain agitation and concern. In fact, he sensed, reading his student’s face, that something was wrong. By a specific choice, the result is not valid for the international ranking, but it was regularly certified for the Fidal rankings. The event was organized by Queen Atletica and the ASD Atletica Alto Garda e Ledro in collaboration with Mancini Group. Alex continued to grind out kilometers, passing with impressive regularity under the finish banner. The body of the South Tyrolean, 1.87 meters tall, does not seem to have changed since the days of his great successes. But now they are just memories of another life.
The doping ban ended at midnight on Sunday, July 7. “Today when I showed up at the start I had to ask the organizers for pins to attach the number on my chest, just to understand how much time has passed since my last race,” he says. Lap after lap the pain gets stronger and Alex can no longer place his foot down as the rules of the race walk require. At this point he withdraws, the fans welcome him with a long and affectionate applause. The now ex-race walker can hardly walk. “This was my last race as an athlete. I was born an athlete and I will remain one forever. If I want, when I’m 50 I will participate in the local races,” he says with a smile that is half bitter and half relieved. He will watch the Paris Olympics from home: “it’s an important and beautiful thing.” And Alex knows it.
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2024-07-19 21:24:00
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